Thanks to mar for sharing this bottle. I have been looking forward to this one.

The beer pours a dark brown coilor with a white head. The aroma is a disappointment. It it not bad, but it is not what I was expecting. I get a lot of soy and toffee, as well as some leather. I also get something that resembles trash. Hopefully the flavor will be better.

For the flavor, I get a lot of roasted malt and chocolate, which is coupled with a lot of barrel-aging characteristics. I get a nice amount of oak and maple, as well as quite a bit of vanilla. Medium mouthfeel and medium carbonation.

Luckily, the flavor was much better than the aroma, which salvaged this beer. Glad I got to try this one.

Black. Expected lighter given the other beers in the blend that aren't stouts. Bourbon dominated nose.

Easy drinking for the abv. Muddles all the beers blended, I can't taste Parabola or Velvit Merlin, etc. . . but it is interesting. Bourbon is heavy, but not as much as its aroma was. A little bit of everything else, chocolate, oak, vanilla, rummy sweetness, brandy, some other kind of wood heavier than oak, chicory? Not too thick, actually on the thinner side of most beers in this abv range. Maybe a kick of dark sugar.

While this was great fresh on tap, I think it definitely has the build to age miraculously. Of my bottles, I'm going to hang on to all of them for at least one year I think. This really seems ageable.

This beer pours a very dark brown color that when held up to the light just barely shows a slight dark mohogany color. It boasts a thin light brown head that fades fast, leaving no lace.

There is a lot going on in the nose on this one. I detect dark fruits up front. Figs and raisins. I get some smooth vanilla. Bourbon is present, but not overpowering. Some bitter cocoa. Sweet toffee and caramel mix in as well. You can detect the 12.5% ABV in this aroma.

This beer has as complef a flavor as it does aroma. Vanilla first, with some fig/raisin flavors. Bourbon is present, more dominate in the flavor than the aroma. It has a very sweet caramel flavor. It is damn sweet.

This beer is very full bodies. It warms the mouth, throat, and stomach on the way down. This beer is low in carbonation, fitting the style.

This beer is definately a sipper. The very aggressive flavor and the high alcohol content make this one hard to put down by myself, but I think I will manage.

Overall: I felt that the 4th of July would be as good a day to crack open the $22.95 bottle. I have been sitting on it for a while. I am glad that I opened it. It is great. Firestone Walker is quickly becoming one of my favorite breweries. This beer is great and will last all night long.